SYDNEY (AFP) – Aboriginal Senator Lidia Thorpe branded Britain’s Elizabeth II a “colonising” queen yesterday, as the lawmaker reluctantly swore allegiance while taking the oath of office.
In a flash of protest, Greens Senator Thorpe raised her right fist in a Black Power salute as she begrudgingly swore to serve the 96-year-old monarch, who is still Australia’s head of state.
“I sovereign, Lidia Thorpe, do solemnly and sincerely swear that I will be faithful and I bear true allegiance to the colonising Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II,” she said before being rebuked by a Senate official.
“Senator Thorpe, Senator Thorpe, you are required to recite the oath as printed on the card,” said the chamber’s president Sue Lines.
After reciting the pledge as required, Thorpe declared on Twitter: “Sovereignty never ceded.”
Australia was a British colony for more than 100 years.
